Computer-based business solutions have existed for various different types of transactions since the mid-to-late 1960s. During this time period, the technology focused on the use of batch technology. In batch processing, the business user would present a file of transactions to the application. The computer system would then run through the transactions, processing each one, essentially without user intervention. The system would provide reporting at some point in the batch processing. Typically, the reports would be batch-printed, which, in turn, would be used by the business user to correct the input transactions that were resubmitted along with the next batch of transactions.
In the 1970s, businesses began a transition to on-line, interactive transactions. At a conceptual level, this processing opened up the file of transactions found in batch transactions and allowed the user to submit them one at a time, receiving either immediate confirmation of the success of the transaction or else feedback on the nature of the transaction error. The conceptually simple change of having the user interact with the computer on a transaction-at-a-time basis caused huge changes in the nature of business computing. More important, users saw huge changes in what they could do on a day-to-day basis. Customers were no longer forced to wait for a batch run to process the particular application. In essence, the computer had an impact on the entire workflow of the business user.
Along with the advent of on-line interactive systems, it was equally significant that the systems provided a means for the business user to communicate with others in the business as the day-to-day business went along. This capability was provided on the backbone of a wide area network (WAN). The WAN was in itself a demanding technology during this time period and, because of these demands, telecommunications groups emerged within organizations, charged with the responsibility to maintain, evolve and manage the network over a period of time.
After the advent of on-line interactive systems came the advent of database warehousing end-to-end technology architecture, referred to herein as a data warehouse computing system. FIG. 1 illustrates a high level physical schematic of a data warehouse computing system which includes hardware and software that provide for and support the processing, storage and access of data as it flows from data sources to an end user, as illustrated by the use of arrows. Data warehouse computing systems allow end-users to access select data from data sources without needing to access the data sources themselves. Data sources are the operational, legacy system and external databases in which data, needed by end-users, resides. Data usually resides in data sources as transaction records. Typically, a data warehouse computing system also includes a refining process, a data warehouse component, and a data mart, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The refining process is a process that extracts, cleans, and summarizes the data from data sources so that the data can be loaded into the data warehouse component in an organized fashion. The data warehouse component and the data mart serve as storage areas to hold data as it is transformed from transaction records to information accessed by the end-user. Data warehouse computing systems make it more convenient for an end-user to access the data stored in data sources and to ensure that the data stored in data sources can be updated while maintaining the integrity of the data. Keeping a data warehouse computing system available and under control, while providing a high level of service to the end user, is complex and difficult. Unfortunately, not all organizations are aware of this complexity, as they should be. Organizations need to implement an operations architecture and a development architecture in a data warehouse computing system in order, not only to keep an organization's internal data warehouse computing system up and running, but also to maintain a data warehouse computing system that extends to business partners and customers and to support the tasks involved in the analysis, design, and construction of a data warehouse computing system, as well as the associated management processes.